Review of Hellboy (2004) by Mark D — 04 Mar 2012

Director Guillermo del Toro's cinematic adaptation of Hellboy is a surprisingly entertaining and action-packed comic book film with a fantastic lead performance by Ron Pearlman, who appears right at home in red-horned makeup and a trenchcoat.

Del Toro's immense talent for creative vision and visual design works wonderfully with the source material, allowing space for numerous monsters and supernatural assassins to emerge without feeling overly contrived.

Pearlman finds the perfect blend of heart and fist to make the Hellboy character a lovable hero, using some wonderful comedy to contrast some of the film's darker moments of supernatural horror. The supporting cast is also quite good, as are the special effects for the most part (minus a few blatant CGI shots).

While his character may not be as mainstream as some of the other major comic book heroes, Hellboy as a film is far more polished and unified than the average modern comic book film, making this a noteworthy and fun trip into a world where there really are things that go "bump" in the night.

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